Greetings, my name is Bill. I am writing in response to the following letter a friend of mine received from you:

Dear X: (name withheld to maintain recipient's privacy)

    I am a Christian volunteer; I am writing to you with some encouragement from the Bible. I know that these last couple years have been trying for all of us. Many people wonder if there is any hope for a better future. The scripture I find encouraging can be found at Revelation 21:4, it says, "And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning, nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things will have passed away." This scripture helps us see that soon death will be a thing of the past.

    I encourage you to visit www.jw.org, a Bible-based website that has answers to many of life's big questions. The article that I am encouraging you to look at is, "A Real Hope for a Better Tomorrow." It can be found under (Bible Teachings>Peace & Happiness). This article offers us hope for the future. If this is something you are interested in discussing together, while on the website you can "request a visit" or write to the above address and we will help you get a deeper understanding of the Bible. I hope this brought you some encouragement.

Sincerely,

(Name withheld to maintain writer's privacy)

* * * * * * * 

Thank you for your concern over the spiritual well-being of my friend as well as others in our community. On behalf of myself and others, I would like to return the kindness by sharing some insights straight from the word of God.

Jesus said there would be tares among the wheat. The church at Corinth was no exception. That is why Paul told them,

"Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves. Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless you indeed fail the test?" -2 Corinthians 13:5

To be assured of our salvation, we all need to apply Paul's test: IS CHRIST IN YOU? 

What does it mean, "Is Christ in you?" Romans, chapter 8, gives us the answer:

"You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you." (v9-11.)

When Paul says, "anyone," and Christ "in you," that includes you. If Christ does not dwell in you personally, then you are unable to put to death the deeds of the flesh and will continue living with sin:

"So, then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh--for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the flesh, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God". -Romans 8:12-14.

How do we receive the Spirit of Christ, that we may have Christ in us? The answer is clear from John's gospel:

"Jesus answered and said to him (Nicodemus), 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless anyone is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.'  Nicodemus said to Him, 'How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?' Jesus answered, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, "You must be born again."' -John 3:3-7

"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." -John 1:12-13

THIS is the gospel--the best good news ever given--that "if  ANYONE is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come!" -2 Corinthians 5:17. The believer is now "in Christ," having turned from sin, taking on new life in Christ, having been "born again."

ARE YOU  BORN AGAIN--BY THE POWER OF THE INDWELLING SPIRIT PUTTING TO DEATH THE DEEDS OF THE FLESH--OR ARE YOU STILL STRUGGLING IN YOUR CONSCIENCE WITH SIN THAT YOU ARE UNABLE TO OVERCOME?

"Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For those who are according to the flesh set their minds of the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God." -Romans 8:1-9.

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that CHRIST MAY DWELL IN YOUR HEARTS THROUGH FAITH; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God." -Ephesians 3:14-19.

"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond what we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." -Ephesians 3:20-21.

"Christ in you, the hope of glory." -Colossians 1:27 

The Watchtower Society says you cannot be born again--you cannot have the indwelling Holy Spirit.

That being the case, you cannot walk in the Spirit.... You are still in your sins.... The wages of sin is death. -Romans 6:23.

The Bible references cited above clearly show that you can be born again, you can have the indwelling Holy Spirit, and through the power of the Spirit you can put to death the deeds of the flesh.

Another Watchtower teaching is that Jesus is not your Mediator. Only through the mediatorship of Christ can you be reconciled to the most holy God.  As a sinner without Christ you have no hope.          -1 Timothy 2:5; Romans. 5:10; 8:34; Hebrews 7:25

Do you believe what the Bible says about Jesus as your Mediator, being born again, and the indwelling Christ, or what the Watchtower teaches?

"Examine everything carefully. Hold fast to that which is good." -1 Thessalonians 5:21

Scroll down for more evidence that the Watchtower teaches doctrines of men: